"What do you an, it's 'really '? Don't tell you actually know who I am?"
Seele glared at Bronya, her expression still sharp with sarcasm. "You're from the Overworld—did you seriously go out of your way to dig up dirt on ?"
But as she looked down at Bronya's tear-streaked face, she couldn't bring herself to stay harsh. With a huff, she set the girl down on the sand and pulled her hand back.
"Alright, stop the waterworks! It's not like I'm going to do anything to you. Though, if you don't tell where on earth we are or how to get back, I can't guarantee I won't change my mind!"
The mont Seele let go, however, Bronya didn't run. Instead, she threw her arms wide and pulled Seele into a crushing hug.
"It's ... Seele, it's Bronya..." Her voice was thick with sobs, trembling uncontrollably.
"Yeah, yeah! I know who you are. Cocolia Rand's daughter, the next Supre Guardian! Happy now?!"
"No... that's not it. Seele, I'm Bronya... the big sister Bronya you know..."
Bronya clung to Seele's waist, her small fra shaking—whether from the rush of joy or sothing else entirely, it was hard to say. She looked up, gazing through a veil of tears at the girl who felt so familiar yet so foreign.
Long hair, black on the outside and blue within; deep azure eyes; and that face—the face that had appeared in her dreams a thousand tis.
They were identical.
But Seele... she wasn't like this. She shouldn't be so cold, bristling with thorns like a cornered hedgehog.
"Seele... don't you rember... you..."
Listening to Bronya's rambling, Seele felt a wave of helplessness wash over her.
I should have stayed hidden, she thought.
It was obvious Bronya was mistaking her for so other Seele she knew. But that wasn't her.
"What a pain in the neck," Seele muttered, looking at Bronya with blatant distaste. She reached out, lifting the girl by the collar to try and put so distance between them. "Keep it back! You're getting snot and tears all over my clothes!"
"Bronya won't let go!" Bronya wailed, her voice cracking. "Bronya doesn't want to let go! It took so much... just to see you again!"
"You...!"
For a second, Seele's temper just evaporated. She looked exasperated and annoyed, struggling with herself for a long mont before finally forcing her voice to soften. It still ca out sounding a bit rough, though.
"Listen, kid. I've never t you before in my life. Are you sure you haven't got confused with soone else?"
"No! Bronya... would never mistake you!"
Bronya seed completely overwheld by her emotions. Seele had never seen her like this in the ga...
Wait, no. The Bronya in the ga was exactly like this. After finally finding Seele in the Sea of Quanta, she had been just as hysterical, refusing to let go for anything.
Just you wait!
Fretting and frustrated, Seele decided to pin the bla on the "other" Seele.
If I ever end up turning into Bronya one day, I am going to give that Sea of Quanta Seele such a hard ti. I'll make her chase you around and wipe her nose on your clothes just like you're doing to !
"Don't you rember... back at the orphanage..."
"Orphanage?" Seele's brows knit together. "What are you talking about? I don't rember any pipsqueak like you being at the orphanage."
Just as she was about to press for more details, the sound of frantic, heavy footsteps crashed through the nearby brush.
"More trouble," Seele spat, her posture shifting into sothing wild and aggressive.
A group of people burst from the thicket onto the beach. Hiko, Kiana, Theresa—the whole gang was there.
"Bronya!"
Hiko and the others froze the mont they saw the scene: Bronya, crying her eyes out for the first ti in mory, seemingly held captive in Seele's grip.
"Let go of Bronya!"
Kiana was the first to jump forward, her face a mask of fury and desperation. "Do it now! Or else this Lady is gonna make you regret it!!"
"Make regret it? That's a laugh. How?" Seele arched an eyebrow, firing back without a second thought. "Is everyone from the Overworld this unreasonable?!"
"Let her go. I'm only saying it once."
Hiko cut her off, her voice so cold it could have dropped icicles. Seele had no doubt that Hiko had already hailed Ai-chan; for all she knew, the Hyperion was already warming up its engines to head this way.
That is, assuming the damage from the Third Honkai Eruption had been patched up...
"And if I say no?" Seele let out a cold smirk. The scythe she'd traded from Sampo shimred into existence in her hand.
The air grew thick with tension. Kiana and the others began to fan out, silently surrounding her. In Theresa's hands, the Oath of Judah began to glow with a faint, golden light.
"Stop..."
Bronya's voice broke the silence. It was low and raspy, barely audible over the crashing waves, but they all heard it.
"Don't hurt her."
"Bronya?" Kiana looked at her, eyes wide with confusion. "Don't worry, we won't let this person lay another finger on you!"
But Bronya looked up at Seele, and though the tears were still falling, her silver-gray eyes had regained their steady, logical light.
"You are not... the Seele that Bronya knows."
Finally figured it out, huh?
Seele felt a flicker of perverse amusent. It wasn't every day you got to see Bronya break down like that.
And she was the one who caused it—best of all, she didn't even have to do the heavy lifting to fix it. The girl was handling her own recovery. Still, she felt a tiny twinge of guilt.
"Bronya knows... the Seele she loves would never forget her."
"What are you even talking about, kid?" Seele raised an eyebrow, putting on her best look of confused disgust. "You're saying there's another '' running around sowhere?"
"Yes. In this world, there is another Seele. The Seele who grew up with Bronya in the orphanage."
"Give a break. I think I'd know if I had a twin, and besides, aren't you the daughter of the Supre Guardian Cocolia? Don't try to play friend with ."
Seele gave a dismissive laugh.
"Cocolia?" Theresa asked, sounding bewildered. "Wait a second, isn't Cocolia an executive of Anti-Entropy? Since when did she beco a... Supre Guardian?"
"Because you do not belong to this world," Bronya said, her voice now firm and certain. "You have co to another world entirely."
"Another world?"
Seele looked at her, her expression shifting into one of pure, unadulterated skepticism. "And you really expect to buy that?"
Nearby, as they listened to Bronya's explanation, Kiana and the others finally began to piece together exactly what was happening.
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